St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-05
POVERTY AND LABOR.
Thoughts From the Sermon at
the Cathedral Yesterday VI orn-
ing,

Thoughts From the Sermon at
the Cathedral Yesterday VI orn-
ing.
Rev. Father Fitzgerald took the text
for his sermon yesterday at the cathe-
dral from the gospel of the day. the
second Sunday in Advent: 1.-The Poor
have the gospel preached to them"
Reverend father said: The poor and
the sick and the afflicted were wont to
follow Christ wherever he went, and to
hang upon His every word. And it was
in the midst of such a scene that two
disciples from John the Baptist came to
Him and said: art thou He that
art to come, OF look we for
another?" Our Savior, with dig
nifty, waived His hand and said:
go and relate to John what you have
heard and seen. The blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor
have the gospel preached to them"
THE poor have the gospel preached
to them" Mark these words. Christ
cOmpIishment of deeds, but to instruct
the whole world. In this world, the
poor are desLised or utilized for the
few. From the gospel of to-day, we see
that the people of the time mentioned
therein were expecting Saviour. But
our Saviour was not satisfied in merely
fulfilling the promise he had made, he
offered another, the evangeliZ-
ing of the poor. Let us
now consider our Saviour
in his relations with the poor, the sick
and the degraded. 1t is safe to say, and
without eXaggeratiOn, that among those
considered disgraced among the nations
during ChriSt'S time there were none
more to be pitied than the little chill
dren. Our Saviour revolutiOniZed so
ciety in this respect. He said: 'Suffer
little children to come unto me,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
There was no sight so charming as to
see the little children crOwding about
Him. There was no miStaking His doc
trine. But
THE WORLD REBELI.ED.
They would accept no such doctrine.
For this reason Christ must die on the
cross and three centuries of martyrs be
entOmbed. After the children comes
the woman. He must also elevate her
from the degradation into which she
had fallen, and give her back
her pristine dignity. To accomplish
this, he chose as his mother, a virgin.
He Sancuhed marriage by making 1t a
sacrament. When the mothers heard
those magic words addressed to the
children they were penetrated by such
deep love for Christ that wherever He
went they followed Him.
The Catholic church has initiated the
conduct of our Saviour by always hon.
oring the poor. Hence the wisdom of
that Oft-quoted expression of our Lord,
''The poor you have always with YOU"
So it followed that alms-giving became
a precept of the church, and to visit the
poor and the sick and the distressed
were considered most worthy acts of
charity.
If antiquity has surpassed us in any
thing, it was in the building up of
great
MONUMENTS OF PLEASURE.
The coliseum, for instance, would
contain 100000 people. and there. befors
the delighted spectators. were slaugll-
tered thousands of men and beasts.
Their temples were elegant, their
theatcrS magnificent. But Christendom
far surDasSes the time referred to in in
stitHtiOns of charity. In tie asylums
and hospitals are the poor and the af-
tiicted cOmfOrted and consoled. Like
poverty. Christ also honOred labor, and
the great part of his thirty years of life
was spent in labor. His companions